Archives › Matthew Pouliot
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Besides Giancarlo Stanton and maybe right-hander Jose Fernandez, the Marlins’ shining light this year was going to be their remarkable Double-A outfield; Christian Yelich is one of baseball’s very best prospects and both Jake Marisnick, who was acquired from the Blue Jays in the Jose Reyes trade, and Marcell Ozuna rate comfortably within the top…
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Thanks to Heath Bell, some couple is probably breaking up tonight
Apr 3, 2013, 1:01 AM EDT
Making his Diamondbacks debut, Heath Bell gave up two homers in the seventh inning Tuesday against the Cardinals. The first of them, coming off the bat of shortstop Pete Kozma, is most likely going to get this guy dumped after he bailed on his girlfriend with the ball coming down. Jon Jay hit the second…
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It looked like destiny was on his side when Yu Darvish made such quick work of Jason Castro and Carlos Corporan to start the ninth inning Tuesday against Astros. Seconds later, destiny rolled right between his legs into center field. In the end, the pitch count may have gotten to Darvish. Not that he seemed…
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The AL had an historic Rookie of the Year class last year, but this year, the NL appears to have the stronger group of the two leagues. The one issue: a lot of these talents are likely to have to wait until June or July for their opportunities, if they come this year at all.…
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Wanting to reward the guy who caught his perfect game against the Rays last year, Mariners starter Felix Hernandez sent A’s catcher John Jaso a Rolex before the two squared off Monday. Hernandez had “Perfect Game ” and “8/15/12″ inscribed on the watch, which was delivered via a clubhouse employee about 90 minutes before first…
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Despite facing a very tough left-hander in Chris Sale, the Royals had Mike Moustakas batting cleanup today. Why? Because Ned Yost wants a set lineup. Pay no attention to those splits behind the curtain. That set lineup: LF Alex Gordon SS Alcides Escobar DH Billy Butler 3B Moustakas C Salvador Perez 1B Eric Hosmer CF…
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Even before taking the loss to the Cubs, A.J. Burnett got dusted in Monday’s game: Burnett recovered from the traumatic incident to strike out 10 in 5 2/3 innings. However, he did give up all of the Cubs’ runs in the Pirates’ 3-1 defeat.
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For those of us who miss Manny Ramirez‘s antics on the field, we do have an awkward sort of replacement in Hunter Pence patrolling right field for the Giants. Here’s Pence today giving the Dodgers’ Mark Ellis a double when he lost a flyball on the sun. And here is Pence with Matt Kemp up…
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Jumping all over CC Sabathia, the Red Sox racked up 13 hits and eight walks to beat the Yankees 8-2 in Monday’s opener. A typical Red Sox-Yankees game, it finished about an hour and a half later than the Nationals’ 2-0 win over the Marlins, which also started at 1:05 p.m. EDT. The Red Sox…
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UPDATE: Rangers, Elvis Andrus reach an agreement on a $120 million extension
Apr 1, 2013, 9:32 AM EDT
UPDATE: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that the deal is done. 2:42 AM: Despite the presence of Jurickson Profar waiting in the wings, the Rangers have decided to lock up Elvis Andrus to an eight-year, $120 million deal, according to FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal and CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman. Rosenthal reports that the contract would supersede Andrus’…
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Bringing back something I used to do each year for fun, here’s a look at the American League Rookie of the Year possibilities, with odds posted for several of the favorites. I’ll follow suit with the National League tomorrow. Please note: Rangers outfielder Leonys Martin is ineligible for Rookie of the Year honors. He spent…
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Umpires go first three outs of major league season without blowing a call
Mar 31, 2013, 8:29 PM EDT
Of course, our luck ran out in the bottom of the first of Sunday night’s opener between the Rangers and Astros. With Jose Altuve on first and no outs in the frame, a Matt Harrison pitch to Brett Wallace got away from A.J. Pierzynski, causing Altuve to try for second. The throw arrived on a…
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Between now and Opening Day, HardballTalk will take a look at each of baseball’s 30 teams, asking the key questions, the not-so-key questions, and generally breaking down their chances for the 2013 season. Up next: The Boston Red Sox. The Big Question: will the offseason spending spree prove worth it? Coming off a disastrous season…
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Samuel Deduno completes WBC breakthrough with title game victory
Mar 19, 2013, 11:37 PM EDT
Yan Gomes, the only major leaguer Brazil has ever produced, opted out of the World Baseball Classic to help his chances of making the Indians. He won’t. Melky Mesa, a veteran minor leaguer in the Yankees system, was all set to be part of the Dominican Republic’s left-field committee. Then Curtis Granderson got hurt. Presented…
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Between now and Opening Day, HardballTalk will take a look at each of baseball’s 30 teams, asking the key questions, the not-so-key questions, and generally breaking down their chances for the 2013 season. Up next: The Tampa Bay Rays. The Big Question: is this the year Evan Longoria challenges for the MVP award? Longoria has…
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Let’s face it: the World Baseball Classic’s uphill climb as an event worth watching wouldn’t gain any momentum if Team USA ran away with it. That’s why it has to be pretty exciting for MLB to see Puerto Rico advance past the U.S. and join the Dominican Republic, Japan and The Netherlands in the WBC semifinals. While…
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With guys like Oscar Taveras, Michael Wacha and Matt Adams set to start out on the farm, one wonders if a collection of Cardinals’ minor leaguers might be better than the Astros this year. Cardinals GM John Mozeliak made it clear today that Taveras, likely the best pure hitting prospect in baseball, would open the…
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Craig Kimbrel allowed a total of one double in 62 2/3 innings for the Braves last year. Maybe even more impressive, he allowed just one hit with a man in scoring position. He never allowed multiple hits in an inning. On Thursday, he gave up one double and two hits with men in scoring position…
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Puerto Rico scored three times in the bottom of the eighth to beat Italy 4-3 and keep its World Baseball Classic hopes alive on Wednesday night. Italy was eliminated after losing its second straight game. Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo put Italy on the board in the fifth, delivering a bases-loaded double that plated three…
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FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal reports that MLB has shot down a union plan that would set up different penalties for those who test positive for perf0rmance-enhancing drugs. While the current system calls for a 50-game ban for a first violation, 100 games for a second a lifetime ban for a third, the union is reportedly open…
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Trying to pull off another stunner, Italy jumped out early against the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, only to see its 4-0 lead whittled away in a 5-4 loss. After Dominican starter Edinson Volquez at one point threw 11 straight balls in the first, Alex Liddi hit a sac fly and Chris Colabello followed with a three-run…
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Four sacrifice bunt attempts in one game. I’d be pretty disgusted if it were the Marlins trying such a thing to beat the Mets in mid-August. But, no, that’s what Team USA did on Sunday on its way to topping Canada 9-4. Technically, it will go into the books at three sacrifice bunt attempts, since…
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Ugly brawl highlights yet another flaw in the World Baseball Classic
Mar 9, 2013, 6:39 PM EDT
One of the ugliest scenes to take place on a baseball field in recent years just took place in Canada’s defeat of Mexico on Saturday. And while none of the participants should be let off the hook — I’d have been in favor of stopping the game and throwing both countries out of the tournament…
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Robinson Cano went 3-for-5 and Carlos Santana homered as the Dominican Republic took another step towards advancing in the WBC on Saturday, beating Spain 6-3. The Dominican team scored five times in the second and third innings off Yoanner Negrin, with Nelson Cruz driving in two of the runs. The Spanish bullpen did solid work…
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As the ace starter for back-to-back College World Series champion South Carolina, Michael Roth was a big name in the college baseball world before being drafted by the Angels last year. A big enough name to make him a catfishing victim, it turns out. Roth told Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times about his…
